Sheffield United's promotion at Leicester as seen through the eyes of goalscoring hero Brian Deane

Brian Deane scored United's second goal in the game at Leicester on the final day of the season in a 5-2 victory that secured promotion to Division One. Picture: Pascal Rondeau/Allsport

Sign up to FREE email alerts from YorkshireLive - Daily News

When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they’ll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. OurPrivacy Noticeexplains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time.

When Brian Deane arrived from Doncaster Rovers for just £30,000 in 1988, he had no idea that two years later he would be lining up against the best players in English football and playing on the biggest stage of all.

At the age of 21, he was still finding his feet in league football and not only was he about to be catapulted into the big time, he was also going to be taking the first steps towards a cult status that is just a strong today.

He became an instant hit and an overnight fans favourite.

His goals and partnership with Tony Agana the previous year were key to United's promotion to Division Two and swift return to the second tier following relegation.

The pair continued in the 1989-90 season where they had left off the previous campaign and, again, their goals helped fire United to a second successive promotion and set up that unforgettable game at Filbert Street on the final day of the season.

And rather fittingly, the pair were both on the scoresheet to bring the curtain down on a season that will live long in the memory.

Any two of Leeds, United and Newcastle could have gone up, or been promoted as champions.

But for Deane and co the maths were simple. Win and United would be in the top flight of English football.

"Going into that game it all seemed like a dream," Deane said.

"I think about it now, going in I was like 'wow is this really happening, are we this close to getting promoted?

"At the start of the season I am looking at all these teams like Leeds, West Brom, Newcastle and Sunderland but then you get to the last day and you can get promoted. It all comes down to this. That was quite a hard thing to take on board because everything that had happened to get to that point was blocked out completely. Fast forward nine months and this is where you are.

"It was a little bit surreal. It was a lovely day but you always felt there could be a banana skin. Newcastle were hot on our heels, but when you look at the day itself, everything came down to trust. We had got this far on the journey and we had all the tools in the box that we needed to finish this off.

"We respected the situation we were in and we wanted to finish it properly.

"How the season had panned out for me was brilliant, because I had been scoring goals, Tony was scoring goals and we had people like Ian Bryson scoring and I thought the whole situation had been handled very well by the manager.

"It was a case of keep believing in what you have been doing. If you approach this game the way you have been it will be almost impossible to capitulate."

With the sun shining and almost 10,000 fans packed into Filbert Street, it seemed the script had been written.

But Leicester threatened to spoil the party when they took an early lead.

This was where the trust that Brian mentioned was to be tested more than ever. But Paul Wood quickly equalised with at the far post from a Bryson cross and when Deane slammed home the second after a bit of pinball in the Leicester area, United were on their way.

"Paul Wood's goal calmed us down and put us back on track. From there we got into a mindset where it was like someone throwing water over you. It was a case of come on now guys," he said.

"I dropped to my knees after I scored. It was that feeling of we're on our way, nothing can stop us and that was testament to our determination to win the game, and for me it was just a continuation of the season that I was having, I was in the right place at the right time to score that goal.

"I was still a young kid, it was still hard to believe that after all the setbacks that I had had that I was scoring a goal that might prove we would get promoted in something that you would have only dreamt about.

Read More

Related Articles

"It was almost an out of body experience and when Tony scored the fifth, it was a weird feeling. I knew then that we were actually promoted. You had all the fans in fancy dress, it was just surreal."

Although Brian would later go on and write his own name into club folklore, for those first two years he was part of an iconic strike partnership the likes of which the club has never seen since.

Deane and Agana were as lethal a duo as you could find and they struck fear into opposition defences up and down the country.

They were pivotal to United's success.

"We had a very good personal relationship. I looked up to Tony like a big brother and he's one of the nicest people you could meet.

"I remember the end of the season before and Harry had pulled me in and we had a chat. My form was up and down but he said that was understandable because I was only 21 and I had scored 30-odd goals. In the last few games I had been struggling but Dave made it a point that I was still playing and Tony carried me during that period.

"The nice thing about it was that as I grew stronger that year we complimented each other. Most teams played 4-4-2 and we were usually too much for them. On a one-v-one basis we just had too much in the way of pace, skill and we balanced very well.

"One was left footed one was right footed, we were both comfortable in being in wide positions as long as one was in the box. It just was the perfect combination for that side.

"The whole squad helped me. It would be unfair to say it was just Tony. There was a lot of people in that squad, Ian Bryson for example, we did it all together.

"Paul Wood and John Francis came in and made a difference. When we were struggling for goals, John would come off the bench and Peter Duffied, too. We had a good team and we had too much for a lot of teams to cope with, which was a surprise to us but it just tells you what a team can do together when everyone thinks in the same way.

"It was a brilliant time for me personally. I was fortunate because I was a central figure in a team, which is something that I had only ever dreamed about. I had been rejected a lot as a teenager going for trials and all of a sudden I had grown into my body.

"I always knew I could score goals and was a good player but I was developing at the right time. Those kind of things only come round once in a while and you look at the amount of goals I scored and the service that I needed, so if I had gone to another club that might not have happened, you might never have heard of Brian Deane.

"But I was lucky to have played at that period of time with that manager and those players and it is something I am very proud of. It's part of my legacy that I will be remembered in a period of time that was synonymous with success at Sheffield United.

"It kicked it all off, it was the start of a new era. It was the happiest time of my life. I didn't have to think about football, it just happened. When I hear fans talking about it, I have never come across anything like that in football where we had such a good relationship with the crowd.

"They felt that it was the best journey that they had been on, there has been nothing like it for me, nothing."